Hello, and welcome to Forty Creek!

The Canadian whisky tradition got its start during the 1800s, when over 200 individual whisky makers distilled their own, home-grown products.

These first whiskies were typically made with a high percentage of corn as a base, mixed with rye and barley. As distilling traditions developed over the years, the standard mild, smooth-tasting Canadian whisky formula became popular across the continent – especially during Prohibition in the United States, and in the 1950s and 60s. The public’s tastes waned and veered towards white spirits and wine during the 70s and 80s, leading to a period of stagnation in Canadian whiskies. By the 1990s, the Canadian whisky industry had consolidated greatly, with only a few large distilleries making the majority of whiskies each year.

It was during this time, in 1992, that John K. Hall, a winemaker with over four decades of experience in the industry, dared to follow his dreams of becoming a world-class whisky-maker and laid down the first stocks of Forty Creek in Grimsby, Ontario.

Bucking the category-wide trend
of stagnation and playing it safe,
John reinvigorated Canadian whiskies, changing the game with fresh energy and a renewed attention to innovation and flavour before all else.